Reading...
Play button
Play button
Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
11 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Policy of De'tente
|
- The progressive piecemeal relaxation of cold war tensions
- An alternative to the badly damaged policy of containing communism - Reached its high point when all European nations (except Albania), the U.S. and Canada signed the Final Act of the Helsinki Conference in 1975 - 35 Nations agreed that Europe's existing political frontiers couldn't be changed by force - Accepted numerous provisions guaranteeing the human rights and political freedoms of their citizens - Gradually faded in the later 70s |
|
|
West Germany's Genuine Peace in Europe
|
- Chancellor, Willy Brandt took the lead when he flew to Poland in Dec. 1970 to sign the historic treaty of reconciliation
|
|
|
Brandt's policy of reconcilation with eastern Europe
|
- Gesture at Warsaw Ghetto Memorial and the treaty w/ Poland
- comprehensive peace settlement for central Europe and the 2 German States established after 1945 - East Germany lacked "free elections" and any legal or moral basis - West Germany refused to accept the loss of German territory taken by Poland and the S.U. after 1945 - Brandt believed the wall showed painful limitations of WG's official hard line toward Communist eastern Europe. |
|
|
Winning Chancellorship
|
- In 1969 Brandt negotiated treaties with the S.U., Poland, and Czechoslovakia that formally accepted existing state boundaries in return for mutual renunciations of force or the threat of force
|
|
|
Two German States within one German Nation
|
- Brandt's govt. broke decisively w/ the past and entered into direct relations w/ EG
- Aimed for modes practical improvements rather than reunification |
|
|
The Helsinki Agreement
|
- Brezhnev's S.U. ignored the human rights provisions
- The E/W political competition remained very much alive o/s of Europe |
|
|
The Soviet Union and De'tente
|
- Were taking advantage of de'tente
- were steadily building up its military might - Pushing for Political Gains and Revolutions in Africa, Asia and Latin America - Invasion in Afghanistan in Dec. 1979, designed to save the Marxist regime, was alarming - Many felt that the oil-rich states of the Persian Gulf would be next |
|
|
President Jimmy Carter
|
- Elected in 1976
- Tried to lead the Atlanic Alliance - Urged economic sanctions against the S.U. - Only GB supported the American initiatives - Also showed lack of concerted action in the Solidarity movement in Poland - Some observers concluded that the alliance had lost the will to think and act decisively in dealing w/ the Soviet bloc - The Atlanic Alliance endured |
|
|
President Ronald Regan
|
- U.S. military buildup started by Carter was picked up by Regan
- Came to office in 1980 on a wave of patriotism and economic discontent - Increased defense spending enormously and expanded navy as keys to American power in the post-Vietnam age - Greater conservatism in the 1980s gave Regan invaluable allies in Western Europe - Margaret Thatcher, PM, worked well w/ Regan and was a forceful advocate for a revitalized Atlantic alliance |
|
|
Helmut Kohl
|
- Pro-American
- Came to power w/ the conservative Christian Democrates in 1982 - WG and the U.S. effectively coordinated military and political policy toward the Soviet bloc |
|
|
Maintaining the Alliance
|
- The Western nations gave indirect support to ongoing efforts to liberalize authoritarian communist eastern Europe and helped convince Mikhail Gorbachev that endless Cold War conflict was foolish and dangerous
|
